Spartanburg toddler in fatal plunge identified

Sunday

Authorities are still investigating how a 2-year-old Spartanburg boy fell 200 feet to his death at Chimney Rock Park on Saturday.

Authorities are still investigating how a 2-year-old South Carolina boy fell to his death at Chimney Rock Park on Saturday.

The Charlotte Observer reported Sunday that the child has been identified as Giovani Chavez. Mary Jaeger-Gale, general manager of Chimney Rock at Chimney Rock State Park, said the family is from Spartanburg, S.C.

Rutherford County coroner Jay Early told WSPA the boy broke away from his mother and ran ahead along a trail before slipping and falling underneath some safety ropes.

The boy plunged 200 feet from the upper part of the Skyline-Cliff Trail Loop to the lower part, the station reported. Paramedics tried to resuscitate him but were not successful. The boy was pronounced dead at a Rutherford County hospital.

The accident happened just before 11 a.m. on the Skyline Cliff Trail. Telephone messages left with Chimney Rock Park officials were not returned.

In 2007, the state of North Carolina acquired Chimney Rock Park from the Morse family, whose four generations of family members shared the park with millions of guests for more than 100 years.

The park is now managed by the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation as a unit of the state parks system, according to the Chimney Rock Park Web site.

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